Stewart back in the Crawford

[Chevyguy]

Well it's GA time again and I promise not to talk about field sizes.

Mr. Stewart is back racing the car that he impressed me so much in. He was truly the hero of the 24 hour race. He just got slapped with the $50,000 fine, and 25 owner and driver points by NASCAR, and is under fire from just about everybody in the motorsports world. He has a chance to really prove himself if he can kick ass at this race. His performance at the 24 silenced this nay sayer for sure. Teamed with my favorite driver, qualifying 6th and staying up front through the practices makes me believe they have a real shot at winning this race.

Pruett and Papis on pole, SURPRISE! MSR got 5th, better watch those guys.

[Waco Racer]

If you're looking for a darkhorse don't forget about the #81.

Hey, I thought AW was my favorite driver.

[Danske]

With the quotes indicating a lot of teams were having problems the race result may be a lot different than qualifying order if they get those problems fixed. The #2 qualified with a sick engine, and it sounded like the SunTrust car broke something. Many other teams were complaining about the cars being loose (NASCAR technical terms used as a nod to Stewart). I think 4th is also the best qualifying result for the Mears car and Essex had a lap in practice that would have put them 10th on the starting grid.

Not a tremendous effort from the Horizon Pontiac GTO, but that's better than it debuting like the SWC Caddy. PTG had Hand and Marks qualify, after splitting up Said and Auberlen, so we should expect those cars to move up after Boris and Bill get in.

Anyone want to use the chatroom during the race?

[Danske]

Well, right now, after 50 minutes and 26 laps Stewart is in 3rd, 9.4 seconds behind the leader Wayne Taylor, without the benefit of any yellows other than the one on lap zero.

[Kicking-back]

Should be interesting.

[Danske]

As I noted somewhere else, after 50 laps (a little over an hour-and-a-half) of green flag running there were still six cars on the lead lap. The #6 MSR car got royally hosed with the yellow from the #54 and #81 crash, as it came out as they were finishing a pit stop and they instantly lost a lap there. The Crawfords were going longer between stops than everybody else (they stopped at exactly half-distance and were definitely done with planned stops), so everything was pretty up in the air with 17 laps remaining.

[Tim Northcutt]

Surprise....

Riley cars finished 1-2....

If I am not correct, a Riley has won every race since (and including) Phoenix....

SunTrust & the Pruett/Papis Ganassi car were clearly quicker than the best Crawford....

The only thing that made it close was the caution that made it a 17 lapper finish....

[Danske]

Eh? After 53 laps, 188 miles, three-quarters race distance, and one hour and 46 minutes, and before the yellows at the end the #01 Riley was 20 seconds ahead of and losing ground to the #20 Crawford and the #10 Riley was 10 seconds behind the Crawford (although catching up), with the #01 also needing to make another fuel stop. But I guess people can have differing opinions on what constitutes "close".

[GT1]

Chip can't figure out why the 20 got such great gas milage.

I can't wait for the diecast sales for that one.

[Tim Northcutt]

The Crwaford led during pit stop cycles that put the Sun Trust & Ganassi cars behind....

BTW...when the race went back to green, the Crawford was leading, but look at what cars came out on top...

The Rileys ran 1-2....Wallace had to fight his way back into a podium spot...

[Danske]

True, I think the SunTrust car would have won regardless of the race staying green or not, but the yellow on lap 54 really was a break for the #01: they spent less time on worn tires and they didn't lose as much time on the final stop. They were faster at the end but without the yellow they would have been further behind. I don't think it's certain that they would have been close enough and fast enough with 15 laps remaining to take 2nd had the race stayed green. Give the Crawford a 60-second lead at that point instead of having everyone stacked-up behind the safety car and it would have been real interesting.

Now you may say that the Rileys were still quicker because of their lap times, but one consequence of the Crawfords making one stop was having to run the harder tires. The trade-off looks to me to have given them the overall speed to get a 2nd place. Having the faster car but needing to make another stop sure wasn't making Ganassi happy.

[Danske]

Oops, it would have been a short stop for the #01, so make that a 40-second gap for the Crawford with 15 laps to go.

[Tim Northcutt]

The good fuel mileage certainly helped the Crawford, but you've got to admit, Danske, since Phoenix, the Riley chassis has been the car to beat...whether it is the SunTrust or the Ganassi cars...they walked way from the field at Mt. Tremblant and at Watkins Glen and when you judge speed and performance, lap times is certainly one measure....but I would agree that the fuel mileage (with less stops, of course) is another....

[Patrick B]

It would be nice to get a yellow free 2nd half of the race to see if the Crawfords mpg advatage would pay off in a win. Both at Mount Tremblant and Daytona they(2,4,20) where looking good till the yellows came out...

[Fab]

We had a nice coverage of the last race on MotorsTV. I'm no accustomed to the DPs, and there's nice batlles on the track.

Lets bury the war axe : roll on GA !

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally posted by Patrick B
It would be nice to get a yellow free 2nd half of the race to see if the Crawfords mpg advatage would pay off in a win. Both at Mount Tremblant and Daytona they(2,4,20) where looking good till the yellows came out...

But you've got to admit it, Patrick B.

when it went green at Mt. Tremblant, the Ganassi Riley left them in the dust....

and at Daytona, both SunTrust and Ganassi ran the Crawford down and took it to school....

On the other hand, I too, would like to see a caution-free 2nd half of an event with the Crawford mileage advantage to see how it would play out....I love varied strategies and how they work with or against each given situation...that is one of the elements that I really enjoy about all forms of racing...

Sometimes the "smartest" team wins, instead of the "fastest"...and I enjoy that aspect of it just as much as the speed...

[Danske]

Oh, the Rileys do have the edge, but aside from the SunTrust car with Angelelli driving I don't think it's impossible for them to drive the perfect race but still lose. It's terribly geeky, but check out PR Time Gaps. From that it looks like Wallace would have beat Papis under green and was actually faster for a while there. I don't think Ganassi could look at that graph and not be troubled. (Although it also looks like the Ganassi team put in a very quick stop; his Cup crew were working the stops that night?)

[paul-collins]

Danske, how would tire pacing affect the lap times? AW admitted he had no tires left at the end, which to me suggests his earlier pace was too hot. Did Ganassi's car require/acquire fresh rubber?

[billnchristy]

yes, both of the lead rileys dipped in under the last yellow to get fresh tires...

I just got to watch the race last night...thrilling fight for 3rd at the end!!

[jhansen]

Isn't the real argument here which car has the better pace? Some are arguing about strategy and some about pace. The Riley's seem to have it on race pace, as evidenced in qualifying. But perhaps the race strategies show something different in terms of finishing order, or potenial finishing order if you throw out the yellows.

[Danske]

The tire wear is a tricky question with the restart muddying things up.

#20 and #01 Lap Times (non-flying laps omitted)

Stewart wasn't slowing much right before he pitted (but he may have done a fine job on tire conservation). The #01 did put on fresh tires at the end (and got more laps on them because of pitting earlier than planned), and that is reflected in the times. It looks like Wallace's times were falling off at the end relative to Papis', but he did put in one of his better times with three laps to go despite his account in the interview.

Hmm, now Wallace's tires would have fallen off faster under green, but how many accumulated seconds would that have been over the final laps? The #58 did also get the jump on the #20 on the final restart, and that enthusiastic fight would also have contributed to both tire wear and increasing lap times with the #58 bottling-up several cars behind it. The magic 8-ball says the answer is hazy to the question of the Wallace beating Papis without the yellow.

Oh, it was also interesting that in the broadcast they said that the #20 was 100lbs (45kg) lighter than previous Crawfords. There seems to be quite the weight-loss war raging in the DP ranks as I've heard several reports of teams working to lighten the cars.

[billnchristy]

yes, none of the current models (with the exception of the 20) are even near weight minimums...and since the rules are restrictive, it is a good way to get power and make the cars faster.

If you look at P1s and 2s nearly none of them are near the low end either, but it is less important because other tweaks can be made.

[Chevyguy]

As far as tires go, Andy was also on the harder compound, while the Rileys were both on softs. As a matter of fact, the 20 was the only car in the top five on hards. The Brumos car passed Andy before he got his tires up to temp, but then Andy being the absolute badass he is...

Chip Ganassi is a well known consiracy theorist, but if he had been paying attention, the 4 car did just as well on fuel milege. Now correct me if wrong, but did the Crawfords not look better on the straights and banks then the Rileys? The slippery design of the Crawford and the FABCAR could actually turn into an advantage against the high dowforce Rileys and Dorans, if only the horsepower was there. With GA putting such strict restrictions on HP, the high drag of those two won't make much difference. As it stands, braking is more crucial then ever, as that is how you turn the fast laps in the DP class.

[Patrick B]

There is one DP thats on the weight minimum... the Chase.

[Danske]

Chase claimed eleven pounds over weight, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's at that weight without the non-essentials like power steering, a driver cooling system, and so forth. Still, that's a good place to start from.

Speaking of tweaks, I wonder if the month-long break in the schedule will produce any observable changes for Mid-Ohio.

Now suspension design isn't as sexy as engines or aerodynamics, but after seeing more photos of different DPs with their bits exposed I'm curious how that war is progressing. That is one of the more free areas in the regulations, but I don't really know how much time there is to be made is suspension design as opposed to just setup.